I have a cheap MIDI-keyboard and FL Studio.You don't need an expensive MIDI-keyboard if you're not very good at playing keyboard. You will most likely end up placing the tones with your mouse.I'm pretty decent, but I still just place the tones manually in FL Studio anyway.For me, the MIDI-keyboard is used only to make up the melody.I have keys for 2 octaves, but have buttons to raise or lower the octave. That's important to have!

Don't start off with one with many knobs, buttons, 3/4 octaves and all that. Give a small and cheap one a try, then decide if you need more. Check out "Akai MPK Mini". I love it.

When it comes to software, it really depends. FL Studio is very easy and simple visually, an yet have a lot of juice. Though, other softwares may have much more to offer technically.

Wow, those are both really good! You should definitely make some more stuff. Thanks for sharing. I've actually never really tried to make music on a computer, but I play a bit of piano. What's the best way to try it without having to buy software?

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I'm not a fan of FL--too many sub menus. I prefer Live for its minimal design and excellent DSP effects. I used Logic for many years, but I reckon I spent more time setting up key commands and templates than composing music. A lot of people recommend FL or Reason for beginners, but I recommend downloading the demos to see what works for you. There's a guy called Burial--he just uses a laptop and Sound Forge (not even a sequencer) to compose music because he can't afford a lot else, but his music is amazing because of that.